Pope Francis Marries Couple on Papal Flight

Pope Francis on Thursday performed a midair wedding aboard the papal plane near the end of his trip to Chile.

Two LATAM Airlines flight attendants had mentioned to Francis that they had a civil wedding ceremony in 2010, but were unable to have a religious ceremony after an earthquake destroyed their church that year, the Washington Postreports. Francis asked the couple if they would like him to marry them during the flight.

The wedding, the first of its kind, took place as Francis was flying from Santiago, Chile to the northern city of Iquique.

Francis then married the airlines attendants, Carlos Ciuffardi and Paola Podest, on the flight.

The Vatican told the Italian news service ANSA that the in-flight wedding was "unexpected."

The couple lives together, and they have two children.

#PopeFrancis just married during the flight to #Iquique this couple of flight attendants! They were talking with the Pope. They said they didn’t get married in the Church. The Pope asked if we wanted to get married immediately. They said YES! #modopapapic.twitter.com/9V4Kt4giY8

Jack HeretikEmail Jack | Full Bio | RSSJack is a Media Analyst for the Washington Free Beacon. He is from Northern Ohio and graduated from the Catholic University of America in 2011. Prior to joining the Free Beacon, Jack was a Production Assistant for EWTN's The World Over and worked on Sen. Bill Cassidy's 2014 campaign.